"By small and simple things, great {marriages} are brought to pass!
If an apple a day can keep the doctor away, then a kind deed a day will give you a healthier and happier marriage. Now, that IS a great thing!

Monday, November 11, 2013

how's your grateful game?

did you know that the last words that President Howard W. Hunter said before he died were, "thank you"?  what does that say about him?  that just fills me with love and respect for him.

how did your week go?  were you more specific in what you thanked your spouse for?

i enjoyed myself!  i found my notes i wrote and texts i sent were more fun.  i also liked thinking about what he did, specifically did, that i was grateful for, as he did it.

you?  did you notice a difference?

carry on!...or start now!

here are some great quotes for THIS talk by President Monson:

"President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “When you walk with gratitude, you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives.” 3

Do material possessions make us happy and grateful? Perhaps momentarily. However, those things which provide deep and lasting happiness and gratitude are the things which money cannot buy: our families, the gospel, good friends, our health, our abilities, the love we receive from those around us. 

We often take for granted the very people who most deserve our gratitude. Let us not wait until it is too late for us to express that gratitude. Speaking of loved ones he had lost, one man declared his regret this way: “I remember those happy days, and often wish I could speak into the ears of the dead the gratitude which was due them in life, and so ill returned.”"

you know, the other day i went to take a selfie of me and send it to Zach.  when i went to take the picture, i just couldn't.  i looked awful.  there are those days that i don't look in the mirror until i go to brush my teeth again at night.  he really does deserve my gratitude for not pointing that out on those days!...not to mention forgiving me for those times when i behave totally ungrateful toward him.

"A grateful heart, then, comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives. This requires conscious effort—at least until we have truly learned and cultivated an attitude of gratitude. Often we feel grateful and intend to express our thanks but forget to do so or just don’t get around to it. Someone has said that “feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” "

Thank you President Monson.  You have a way with words.  Let's be even more conscious this week at giving that gift of gratitude to those we love.  Let's up our grateful game.  What do you say?!

Specific ways/apples to do this?

*write 5 things on your bathroom mirror that you're grateful for.
*put a sticky note on the steering wheel with two specific things.
*call them or text them with only what you noticed that morning that you were grateful for. (no business)
*show them you're grateful for your wedding ring by cleaning it and telling them. (or something else they've given you that you love)
*dedicate a meal to gratitude.  go around the table and take turns saying things you're grateful for about each person at the table.
*dad/mom not home much that day...need something for the kids to do?  have them make thankful cards to give them...help them to be specific!  you could make one too!

Have a great week!



1 comment:

kate said...

almost nothing has made me feel better about my marriage than taking time to feel and express gratitude. thank you for the specific ideas, becca! i will be using them.

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